Time to review West Palm’s charter?

Al Vazquez created a stir in West Palm Beach when he filed to run against Bill Moss in March, forcing a $120,000 election for District 5. It’s easy to understand why people are upset with Vazquez – he could have raised $1,500 and had his name appear on the ballot, or he could have qualified by petition.

But Vazquez has beef with the system in general, and how it’s difficult to defeat incumbents in commission races. Both Kimberly Mitchell and Molly Douglas will earn another two-year term in the commission without the approval of voters. Nobody filed to run against them. They probably would have won re-election just based on name recognition, a probable reason why they have no opponents.

So should the city’s charter be reviewed, and commissioners’ term limited? At the same time, should the mayor be term limited? There’s been plenty of speculation that Mayor Frankel, or someone on her behalf, would try to start a petition to have a referendum on eliminating term limits for mayor.

Also, how do you feel about commission salaries? At $30,000, it’s almost certain to be a part-time job. Yet, do you see it as a conflict of interest that commissioners hold jobs in real estate, advertising and bond underwriting? Would it better serve the city if commissioners made, let’s say, $75,000, but were barred from holding another job while serving on the commission?